We all place value on living things for different reasons.

There are four (4) main ways in which we value species:

 Environmental value: species has value because other organisms rely on it.

 Aesthetic value: species has value because it is attractive in some way.

 Economic value: species has value because it has a financial value of some sort.

 Intrinsic value: species has value in and of itself; no direct human benefit.

Why do you value elephants? Using the different values above, which best fits your attitude towards valuing elephants?

I value elephants because they balance out the ecosystem’s.

At
Which of these values is easiest to argue? Why?

If their helpful or not

Which of the values is the most difficult to argue? Why?

That it dose or dose not balance out the ecosystem’s.

Read the following article and respond to the questions.

Battles over ever decreasing land
Elephants are not only being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas, but farmers plant crops that elephants
like to eat. As a result, elephants frequently raid and destroy crops. They can be very dangerous too. While many people
in the West regard elephants with affection and admiration, the animals often inspire fear and anger in those who share
their land. Elephants eat up to 450kg of food per day. They are messy eaters, uprooting and scattering as much as is
eaten. A single elephant makes light work of a hectare of crops in a very short time.

Consequences for local people

Small farmers - often desperately poor and already economically and nutritionally vulnerable, forced by
circumstances to encroach into elephant habitat - can lose their entire livelihood overnight from an elephant raid. Large
agriculture is also affected. In the largest palm oil producing province in Indonesia, Riau, losses due to elephant damage
of oil palm plantations and timber estates are estimated to be around US$105 million per year.
People are also often injured and killed. In India, over 100 people are killed by elephants each year, and over 200
people have been killed in Kenya over the last 7 years. Elephants are often killed in retaliation. Wildlife authorities in
Kenya shoot between 50 and 120 problem elephants each year and dozens of elephants are poisoned each year in oil
palm plantations in Indonesia. Over the last 100 years, African elephant populations have declined from 3-5 million to
470,000-690,000 and Asian elephant populations have declined from 100,000 to between 35,000 and 50,000. Habitat
loss and conflict with people are among the biggest threats to their continued survival.

What is causing the decline in elephants according to the article?

It is illegal poaching and a lot of ivory trades and demands

What value is placed on the elephants according to this article?

To get their ivory

What value is placed on the cause of their decline?

They are killing them

The current estimate on biodiversity is that there are approximately 12,250,000 species currently on Earth. Most people
tend to forget about biodiversity in the larger view, focusing only on plants and vertebrates and not the smaller, less
conspicuous organisms that complete our complex food webs. Healthy ecosystems require a much broader view, with
many different organisms filling the many important jobs that enable an ecosystem to function properly. Elephants
serve important roles in their habitats as well.

Your Task
You have received a $5 million grant to put toward the conservation of species and their habitats. At your table, decide
how the money will be spent. Will it go to purchasing native habitat and turning it into a preserve? Will the remaining
individuals be collected from the wild and put in a zoo for managed breeding? Will the funding be used to aid in the
research of reproductive aid (e.g. artificial insemination)? Do you have other ideas about how the money could be used
to preserve biodiversity? Keep the following in mind: Large terrestrial animal breeding programs start at $1,000,000 as
these animals are quite expensive to keep. You need to put together four (4) conservation programs that will address
each of the values below. Be conscious of you’re the audience to which you are communicating as sometimes different
programs are designed to convince people who view elephants in different ways.
Write a justification for each expense under details. Why might you spend more money on one program over another?

Value Audience How will money be spent? Program name and details
To take care of the
elephants
environment
Environmental 1.5 mil Project
environm
ent

Project elephant

This program will be used

Aesthetic
500 k to show the coolness in
elephants

Economic Project Eco it is to give

2 mil money to the other
companies that take care of
the elephants

Project happy

Intrinsic 1 mil This is for helping

elephants have the right
food for them to live.

Which program received the most funding? Why?

Economic Project. Giving money to other companies to help expand the to

other resources to help the elephants.
Which program received the least? Why?

Aesthetic. We’ll get a stag did not need to have the most money because I
don’t think BT elephant environment is the most important issue.